When Love Strikes like Lightning
by SimplyLimitless
Summary: "I love you, Percy," she said it out loud, just to hear what it sounded like. Straight away, she was disgusted by it. The idea of her, Reyna, proud daughter of Bellona, praetor of the Twelfth Legion, in love with a silly son of Neptune was ridiculous. One-shot.


**Hello World. This is a Percy/Reyna story. I find there is not enough of these since Reyna/Leo are getting popular, but for the last few of us who still like this couple or don't mind it, here a another story you can read. I apologize for the bad title, but it was the only I can think of. It sounds like a title for Piper/Jason.**

**This takes place when Percy just became praetor. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians as it belongs to its rightful owner(s).**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

Reyna couldn't sleep. Actually, the bags under her eyes indicated she barely had any sleep for days. Her messy hair was pulled back but a few strands still littered in front of her face.

She was in her praetor's chair in the _principia_, gathering her writing gear. Hylla taught her this game for brainstorming new ideas, or just to clear an overcrowded mind. Interestingly, Hylla used to say, it may also bring out the truth of someone. In the beginning she would write any word, and then write down the first thing that popped into her mind. She would scribble the first thought that came to her for her second word, and finally, if she continued, she would end up with a list of thoughts. There would be a limited amount of time and the train of thought would stop when the time was up.

She looked outside. The moon was high up in the sky, dangling over Camp Jupiter along with hundreds of stars looking down. Trees waved to her, as if inviting her to go out. And besides a few crickets, nothing could be heard. This was the beauty of living in an unpolluted place. The setting would almost be eerie to city folks, but to her, it was the most familiar and safe place she could ever be in.

Reyna wrote down her first word of the night: Twilight.

She set a one minute timer on her digital watch. As soon as the clock said fifty-nine seconds, she started jotting. Night, insects, racoons, animals, she wrote.

A beeper went off, announcing the end, just as she finished her last word. She read her list. It started with twilight, in the middle somewhere were words like termites, branches, buildings and the last word of her list was…

"Percy," she said to herself. This wasn't the first time this happened. Ever since he came back into her life, she was even more restless than before, which meant more time to write more trains of thought. Some of her lists ended with Percy, but almost all had his name somewhere in its content. Now the talk of the Greek demigods arriving and Percy's new position as praetor had made her even more sleepless.

What was up with her? It was just a coincidence that her insomnia happened when Percy appeared, right? She considered another possibility, but dismissed it immediately because it was too improbable.

She decided to dig further into this. If there was actually a reason why Percy was influencing her nights, she needed to know why. Reyna searched her cluttered table. Under a few scrolls and reports, were some of her past train of thought lists. She gathered them, carefully arranging them in a neat package, and then taking it with her to her study. She practically lived there. She never bothered going to her praetor's house since most of her stuff was there. Conveniently, there was a bed in her office, permitting her to stay at night.

She lit a candle on her desk. The warm orange glow and luminescence of the moon gave her plenty of light to see. She found about ten more lists on her study desk. She had a some in her trash bin too, all balled up and thrown carelessly by her before. She sat down on her chair and pushed herself in towards the desk, allowing the chair to make a little screeching noise, as she unfolded the pieces of paper.

In total, she had about thirty lists, mostly all were useless until now. Reyna wished she had put dates on them, it would have simplified everything, but, she calculated, probably most lists were from the end of last month to this night, about three weeks in time.

"Wow, I really need to clean this place," she whispered to herself.

While reading over her records, she sorted them to the "Percy" pile and the "non-Percy" pile. About two-thirds of her lists went into the "Percy" group. Then she subcategorized them into the "reasonable" and the "non-reasonable" piles. The word "Neptune" came before Percy in one of her list, which was reasonable, but another one read "bush" and then Percy, which was not reasonable.

Reyna thought for a second. She was attracted to him sure, but the possibility of love for him was not that high. She continued through her lists, scanning the words one by one. Most of them went into the reasonable group. She sighed in relief and smiled. Right now, the reality of Percy influencing her nights was quite poor, but the last few papers can change that. They were all wrinkly since they were the ones she tossed in the garbage bin.

She examined the next list, reading it over, and paled, placing her hand over her mouth. The eighth word of this list was vigilant, which turned into the name Annabeth and into jealous. Her breathing became erratic and she felt like crawling into a hole. After jealous, came love, which ultimately became Percy.

"Just a coincidence," she repeated. Her usually confident and steady voice betrayed her and came out soft and unsure, making her feel even more uncomfortable. What if this was the reason she scrunched it into a paper ball? She couldn't recall.

She snatched another. Her brown skimmed slowly, letting her mind process what she read. Reyna started this list with Constantine, the first Christian roman emperor, then Augustus, and Percy. Augustus Caesar was another roman emperor, and Percy was praetor, both high powers of leadership, so it was relatable. Next word was partner. All right, Percy was her colleague, which was a synonym of partner. Jason came after. He was also one of her associates too. It couldn't mean anything else. She placed in the reasonable pile, secretly feeling wrong about her decision.

Her eyelids started to feel heavy, but she knew if she lay down on her bed, the slight impression of sleep would vanish completely. She glanced at her watch as she took another sheet. It was four nineteen in the morning.

_Not so bad_, she thought.

Percy ended this list. The word dream preceded it.

"Oh my gods!"

Reyna abandoned her delusional optimism and finally confessed actuality. She was in love with Percy. Her trains of thought lists confirmed it. The hidden excitements in her heart when she was around him agreed with it. And the fact she gets unusually nervous whenever she was close to him accepted it. It wasn't attraction, it was love. There were still a few more lists to look over but they wouldn't matter. Reality already settled in her head, which, curiously, it didn't come as a shock. She soaked in the truth well, too well, rather. She probably knew already, but buried her feelings for her fellow praetor so she would never admit them.

"I love you, Percy," she said it out loud, just to hear what it sounded like. Straight away, she was disgusted by it. The idea of her, Reyna, proud daughter of Bellona, praetor of the Twelfth Legion, in love with a silly son of Neptune was ridiculous. Or Poseidon… whatever.

Of course he was charming and a well-trained fighter, but he did wipe out her home, the one in the Sea of Monsters. Reyna was happy there. She lived with her sister on an island after being disowned by their father. They didn't need to find shelter or money for food and water anymore because they were already provided for them at C.C's Spa. It was there where Reyna felt safe for the first time in so long. And Percy with his stupid multivitamins came along and freed Blackbeard to destroy it all. After she and her sister escaped, she swore to herself she would be avenged to the ones who annihilated her home. She never thought she would fall for one of them.

A little part of her knew, though, if Percy didn't come to the spa, she probably wouldn't have gone to Camp Jupiter, met friends and become praetor. But also, Hylla wouldn't have left her for the Amazons. If it weren't for Percy, she would have still been one the attendants, giving makeovers to girls and rubbing stuff over their faces. She wouldn't have reached her true potential, evolving from a little girl to the great and eminent leader of the Twelfth Legion of New Rome. She wouldn't have been, well, what she was now.

Reyna groaned. Love was so confusing. She blew out the candle and fell asleep on her desk.

* * *

After doing her usual morning routine, Reyna sat in her tall praetor chair, pretending to read one of the scrolls on the table. Really, she was thinking about Percy, debating with herself whether or not she should tell him her feelings. She wasn't the type of girl who would just plainly tell a guy her thoughts about him. She remembered being too afraid to tell Jason her feelings before he disappeared. What if something were to happen to Percy? She couldn't bear the thought of him leaving her, despite of what he did.

_Forget about him_, the logical part of her thought. _No_, another part said. _I would rather be rejected than wonder forever what might have happened if I told him_ _my feelings_. Reyna absentmindedly reached out her hand and took a jellybean from the bowl. She had a scroll in her hand and her eyes were sort of staring at, might a well read it. She hadn't even looked at the first word yet and she was interrupted. And it just so happened to be him.

Percy awkwardly speed walked towards her because his toga limited his regular running strides. He looked as if he just got off the best roller coaster ever. He had this giant smirk smeared on his face. Her heart skipped a beat. Was he excited to see her?

Reyna shook off her enthusiasm and put on her usual authority voice on, "Ah… there you are Percy. I have something to tell you before the senate meeting-"

"I got a delivery from a wind spirit!" he said. "There was a guy called Leo and he said the Greeks would be here in an hour. An hour! Can you believe that? By the way, they are apparently coming in a big floating warship, so if you can let them in the gates of Camp Jupiter, that would be great."

Reyna exhaled in annoyance, "We'll discuss it during the meeting."

Percy smiled even more, "I just realized Annabeth will be there too! I'm so excited! I'm finally going to see my girlfriend!"

He danced back towards the exit in small steps so he wouldn't trip over his toga.

"Oh you wanted to tell me something, Reyna?" he turned around.

Reyna sat motionless in her chair. How could she have forgotten Percy already had a girlfriend? Even one of her lists said she was jealous of her. She silently cursed herself. It felt like Percy was rejecting her without even knowing it.

"Reyna?" he asked, concerned. She loved how he cared about her.

"Never mind. It wasn't important anyway."

He didn't look convinced, but he let it slip. "I'll see you at the meeting then?"

Reyna nodded and he left.

She sank into her chair and slouched on the table. Tears threatened to fall out of her eyes as she rested her head on her folded arms. She allowed a couple to drop and forced the rest to stay put. She hated being powerless like this.

_Maybe Jason would be on the ship_, she thought. Perhaps this time, she would spill her feelings for him and him fall for her. He would be the second best for a partner, Percy being the first, but he was taken now. She wished she could swap lives with Annabeth, abandoning her position as praetor just for him.

She would have to keep her love hidden. Or else she would always be weak and vulnerable like she was right now, lovesick. She hoped Annabeth cherished what she had because there would be others like herself who would do anything to be her.

Reyna wiped her eyes, regaining her mature appearance, and headed towards the senate meeting. Unconsciously knowing, under her expressionless mask hid a river of emotion that was already overflowing.

* * *

**I just want to note that if you compare this story's timing with the one in the book, it doesn't match. Percy would never had the time to go see Reyna before the senate meeting, but most stories don't have great timing so just let it slide.**

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